BIG NEWS FOR GARLIC |
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Contacts: David Stern: 1-315-587-9787 or Dr. Gayle
Volk: 1-970-495-3205 2.14.06 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BIG NEWS FOR GARLIC - IN
THE FIELD, AT THE LAB, AND ON THE TABLE A new analysis of environmental
effects on garlic types has been made possible by a grant from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research
and Education Program and The Garlic Seed Foundation. The project aims
to increase our knowledge of garlic diversity, culinary enjoyment, and
profitability for sustainable garlic growers. Key Project Leader and participating
grower, David Stern, explains: "Most consumers and many vegetable farmers
don't realize that there is more than one type of garlic. And even though
there are more than 5,000 garlic farmers in the U.S., we do not yet know
which varieties grow best in each region." 2003 DNA analysis concluded
that while there are many cultivars of garlic, they can be classified
into 10 major types based on their genetic diversity; these shall be grown
in 5 northeast locations (ME, VT, PA, MD, NY) and 6 national sites (NV,
MN, AR, WA, KY, CO). This 2 year project will look at the relationship
between the garlic types and the climates, altitudes, soils, and cultural
differences to determine yield and quality potential as well as culinary
/ medicinal properties. If botany's your interest,
this research is going to answer many questions about the relationships
between each garlic types and environmental differences across the U.S.
Through this research and the knowledge it gives us, we will increase
the yield and quality and establish regional characteristics of garlic
produced by market gardeners and small to medium scale farms. ### |